Man gets prison time in child porn case TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — A Texarkana man has been sentenced to more than four year in federal prison for downloading at least 600 child porn images on a work computer. The Texarkana Gazette reported Stephen Wayne Potts, 55, was sentenced Wednesday. Authorities say Potts downloaded the images on a computer issued to him by the Ark-Tex Council of Governments for an undisclosed period of time until July 2012. The sexually explicit images depicted c...

AG offers credit card tips for students LITTLE ROCK (AP) — As students prepare to head back to school, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says young consumers should use caution when considering applying for credit cards. McDaniel also says laws are in place to protect college campuses from predatory credit card solicitations. A 1999 state law restricts the practice of marketing credit cards on college campuses in an effort to combat high-pressure solicitations that target college stu...

Judge to be banned for online comments LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A judge on Wednesday agreed to a lifetime ban from the Arkansas bench for disclosing confidential details about an adoption involving actress Charlize Theron and making off-color remarks in an online forum. If the state Supreme Court approves the settlement, Faulkner County Circuit Judge Mike Maggio will be suspended with pay for the remainder of 2014 and then leave office. In return for his stepping aside, the Arkansas Judi...

LR TD Club announces slate of fall speakers LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema will kick off this fall's series of speakers before the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Aug. 19. The group on Wednesday unveiled a list of 16 events, including visits by former Chicago Bears player Mike Singletary on Sept. 9, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long on Sept. 15 and Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson on Oct. 27. Also on the list is the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame inductio...

Whirlpool Corp. tests for chemical in Fort Smith FORT SMITH (AP) — Whirlpool Corp. is seeking additional testing for toxic chemicals near the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club based on new contamination findings. Company spokesman Jeff Noel told youth club directors that the company is seeking permission to test for trichloroethylene, the Southwest Times Record reported. The chemical, also known as TCE, is linked to increased cancer risks. Noel said monitoring wells installed earlier this year de...

Cleanup program complete at Dumas property DUMAS (AP) — The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality says a former manufacturing site in Dumas is the latest location to be cleaned up under the state's brownfields program. The agency issued a certificate of completion Wednesday to the Star Starrett property in Dumas. The site was developed by Sunbeam in the 1960s and was later used by the Hussmann Corporation to manufacture ice storage units. Environmental officials say volatile org...

Officials ask courts to suspend gay marriage case LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas officials asked a federal judge and the state Supreme Court Wednesday to suspend lawsuits challenging the state's gay marriage ban while a similar case is pending before the nation's highest court. The attorney general's office filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker to stay the proceedings in the lawsuit filed by two same-sex couples challenging a 2004 constitutional amendment and earlier state law...

Records show water runoff from hotel not toxic HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Documents from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality show water samples weren't toxic before a hotel burned down earlier this year. The city's stormwater manager says sampling was done after the fire too. He says tests showed some levels had spiked, but returned to normal after a few days. The Sentinel-Record reported a rainwater sample from the Majestic Hotel was also tested about two months before a fire ripped ...

Officials block inmate uniform proposal MOUNTAIN HOME (AP) — The Baxter County Quorum Court has killed a proposal to replace inmates' black-and-white striped jail uniforms with green scrubs. The Baxter Bulletin reported the court voted down the proposal 10-1 Tuesday night. The only vote in favor came from the proposal's architect, Gary Tennison. He called the uniforms dehumanizing. Tennison says inmates are humiliated by the uniforms, which has a negative impact on their rehabilitat...

Deputy: Man dies in construction accident BATESVILLE (AP) — Authorities say an Arkansas Highway Department employee died after construction equipment rolled over him. Independence County Chief Deputy Jeremy Qualls said the man died Tuesday afternoon in Batesville. He says the 52-year-old man was helping with road construction when a piece of equipment flipped and rolled on top of him. Construction crews were laying asphalt when the accident occurred. The man was pronounced dead at Whi...

New ads buys escalate Senate race LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Senate Democrats' campaign arm on Tuesday began a $3.6 million ad blitz against Republican Tom Cotton of Dardanelle as one of the longest and most intense Senate races in the nation moved toward the final stretch. A year after Cotton, a freshman congressman, announced his plan to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, the two candidates and the outside groups involved in the race have already spent nearly $18 million, ac...

Police dog escapes pen, bites 2 neighbors LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police in Little Rock say a police dog managed to escape his pen at a home in Saline County and bite two neighbors. Sgt. Cassandra Davis says the dog apparently jumped a 6-foot-tall privacy fence on Monday and crossed the street where he bit the neighbors. The condition of the two victims was not released — but Davis says at least one was hospitalized. Davis says the dog bite is being treated as a vicious dog bite and will n...

Bull Shoals police chief to resign, avoid charges BULL SHOALS (AP) — An Arkansas police chief accused of using excessive force against a suspect agreed Monday to resign and never serve in law enforcement again in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping the remaining charge against him. Prosecutors can revive the criminal case against Bull Shoals Police chief Daniel Sutterfield if the conditions of the agreement are not met, The Baxter Bulletin reported. The case involved the arrest of a dom...

Benton County agrees to pay fired comptroller BENTONVILLE (AP) — Benton County has agreed to pay a comptroller who was fired earlier this year. The county agreed Monday to give former comptroller Sarah Wilson six months' severance pay. The county also agreed to pay her $5,000 in legal fees. Wilson was fired in April after investigators said she lied about being in a relationship with a former employee. She has agreed not to publicly disparage Benton County. She is also not able to apply f...

Mayor says no to re-election, yes to golf TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — The Texarkana mayor says he will manage a golf course rather than seek re-election. Mayor Wayne Smith said Monday at City Hall that he would have run for a second term if he hadn't gotten the golf job. He announced he has taken a job as operational manager of the New Haven Golf Course. He was elected mayor in 2010. His last day is Dec. 31. Smith says he's a golfer and called the new job "an ideal situation." He says he'd...

Hutchinson vows to fight EPA on clean air rules LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Republican gubernatorial hopeful Asa Hutchinson on Monday said he'd push for Arkansas to join a lawsuit challenging the federal government's proposed new rules for power-plant pollution, limits that he says threaten the state's ability to create new jobs. Hutchinson said if elected he'd ask the attorney general to join 12 other states in challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions b...

Couples ask justices to recuse in marriage case LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Same-sex couples challenging Arkansas' gay marriage ban on Monday asked any state Supreme Court justices who plan on seeking re-election to recuse themselves, arguing a legislative resolution supporting the prohibition could sway their opinion. The couples filed a motion asking any justice expecting to run for re-election anytime in the future to consider not hearing the appeal of a state judge's decision striking down the s...

Searcy man pleads guilty to killing grandmother SEARCY (AP) — A Searcy man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of his grandmother. The Daily Citizen reported Grant Ellis Crawford, 25, was sentenced after entering the plea Monday in the Jan. 13 shooting of 65-year-old Rachel Maples. Maples died Jan. 18 at a Little Rock hospital. Crawford said the shooting was an accident — but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough ev...

College meets fundraising goal FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — An Arkansas university has announced it has raised more than $100 million in private gift support for the fourth year in a row. The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville announced Monday that it's raised $113.3 million in fiscal year 2014. The amount surpasses the school's goal of $108 million. The private gift support includes cash, planned gifts and new pledges received from July 2013 through June of this year. About 30 ...

Arkansas starts fiscal year below forecast LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Sluggish corporate income and sales tax collections pushed Arkansas' revenue below forecast and below the same month in 2013 as it started its fiscal year in July, state finance officials said Monday. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the state's net available revenue in July totaled $403.1 million, which was $7.1 million below the same month last year and $9.8 million lower than expected. The state'...